Been a while since you've read TLS? It sure had for me, so I made this summary to get my head on straight! If you find you need that too, here's a condensed-but-thorough version of every chapter.
(I'll likely make a shorter-summary version too, but this has everything!)
PROLOGUE - "Letting Go"
A surreal dream of three teenagers - and one ghost kid - in a giant tree. They're thousands of miles apart, but still sharing the same dream, as they have many times before.
Then, the tree begins to burn. The kid, Gabriel from Book 1, starts to wake them up, warning them that Parole is collapsing. He tells them to find him, and each other, and then Shiloh is falling...
CHAPTER ONE - "Lightning in a Bottle"
SHILOH COLE, child of Garrett Cole, sits against a wall and draws the surreal dream from the prologue, including detailed drawings of a teenage boy and girl. Xie's waiting - has a strong feeling something is about to happen, today.
Shiloh lives in Meridian, a Research and Resupply Beacon (the "beacon" keeps Tartarus corruption and Ghosts away) on the edge of the poisonous Tartarus Zone. This toxic wasteland is growing every day, and everyone thinks that Parole has been completely destroyed - including xir best friend, BRIANNA TURRET. Bri is a scout and research assistant, gathering toxic Tartarus samples and keeping an eye out for Ghosts, the strange creatures that live in the corruption.
Shiloh remembers xir vivid dream, and feels called to go find Parole (and xir father, and old friends, including Gabriel).
Xie asks Bri to come with xir, but she's too afraid of her father, MAJOR TURRET, and thinks she can find answers right here. She also doesn't want to believe Parole still exists, because her brother LIAM is there, and it's too painful to think about him alive but abandoned and suffering.
In the middle of their argument, something starts Tapping. They look up to see a terrifying ghostly DRAGON outside the barrier shield, trying to get in. It opens a hole in the barrier, and telepathically starts replaying RADIO ANGEL's words from Book One, which sound distorted and disturbing coming from a monster. ("It's finally happened, babies, Parole is burning.")
The place explodes into chaos and panic - until someone throws a rock. It's the boy from Shiloh's dream and art, first known as CHANCE.
A girl on a motorcycle also arrives, who Shiloh recognizes as ANNIE, the other friend from xir dream.
Throwing rocks doesn't work, and they all run from the dragon - until it appears right in front of them, and starts talking directly to Shiloh.
It says: "Icarus. The word. Exchange."
Just as they're speaking to the dragon Ghost, a pair of SkEye enforcers arrive and start shooting at it (and also the innocent people around). This panics the dragon and makes it attack - and Shiloh releases a huge burst of energy, apparently destroying it.
In the stunned silence that follows, Shiloh says goodbye to Brianna, who recognizes that these are xir friends from Parole. Annie tells Shiloh and Chance to get on her bike, and they flee the scene.
CHAPTER 2 - "Turn On The Lights"
The trio arrive at the Meridian Beacon, a lighthouse-like building designed by Shiloh's mom Maureen, to dispel Tartarus' advances, and (ideally!) the Ghosts that live there. She also designed the barriers, like the one over Parole, but they were meant to be protection, not a cage.
Maureen has heard of Shiloh's "Brain friends," Annie and Chance, and also that Parole is still around - because Garrett Cole, her husband, is still sending her regular messages. Unfortunately, they've lost contact with Parole completely for weeks.
Annie reveals that she's been sent here on a mission - to pick up an important device Maureen's made, that could help Parole. She also wasn't sent alone, but ASH PRICE, Parole resistance fighter and actual adult, didn't make it. (Short story: You're Not Going That Way). Maureen gives her what looks like an old-school floppy disc (but clearly isn't).
Annie says she'll take it to the ship "FireRunner" - its crew helped her escape from Parole. Maureen and Shiloh realize that JAY (the brilliant CYBORJ, short story "RUNTIME"), her brother and Shiloh's uncle, is on that ship, so the disc should go to him. She also gives them a small black cylinder with a red button (a personal transporter, like Regan found in short story "Happening Again").
Maureen and Shiloh agree it's time to bug out of Meridian, find Garrett, and save Parole. Just then, Brianna bursts in to tell them that the hole in the barrier is still not closing - and there's a whole swarm of Ghosts on the way. Maureen assigns Brianna to close the barrier by adjusting the Beacon, then zaps herself and the 3 teens away with the cylinder device.
While Brianna works, there's a knock at the door - MAJOR DAVID TURRET, her father, who treats her like a soldier. He's heard of the disaster today, and is set to blame Shiloh for it, to Brianna's desperate protesting that it was the Ghost, and trigger-happy SkEye men. The Major says he's going to Parole (which he thinks was the cause of Tartarus to begin with) to contain the situation. Brianna wants to know if there are still people alive in Parole, like her brother LIAM, and aunt CASSANDRA, but he insists there are no people left in Parole. (Implied: but there are subhuman monsters he'd like to not exist)
Brianna insists on going with him; she knows now that he's been lying to her, and is determined to find out the truth about Parole, her family, and Shiloh.
CHAPTER 3 - Radio Silence
Maureen sends Shiloh and xir friends off, after confirming that Garrett is alive, and she's going to find him. (Annie realizes Regan didn't kill him, but says nothing.) Maureen tells Shiloh to "follow the stars/Lifeline" if xie needs to find her.
Shiloh, "Chance," and Annie start their long road trip. When they stop for the night, Annie carefully unpacks an organ in a jar - a pancreas, belonging to Zilch. She's keeping it safe for them, and as long as it's alive, she knows Zilch is too. (Prior to the events of YNGTW, Annie and Ash recovered the organ that Sharpe stole. Short story?)
The energy shields on Annie's motorcycle are broken (when Sharpe sniped/killed Ash), so she says she has a Radiance Technologies contact in Chicago (LAKSHANYA CHANDRASEKHAR) who can give them a new one. ("Chance" gets VERY nervous hearing all this.)
Shiloh gets very happy, talking about how the moment xie realized the three of them REALLY DO all know each other, was when Chance used xir pronouns without even being told. When Shiloh feels an emotion like this strongly enough, xir hands start to glow with energy. Annie's been trying/failing to get a radio signal to Parole, and Shiloh realizes xie can boost the signal with xir powers.
They manage to get a few words of RADIO ANGEL (she misses someone named Celeste) - and then picks up a very ominous transmission from someone (LIEUTENANT SHARPE, the man who killed Ash in YNGTW) reporting in. He's satisfied about taking out Ash Price - but unfortunately, a survivor girl got away.
Annie has a panic attack/autistic meltdown, overwhelmed by hearing Sharpe's voice, and her own survivor's guilt. She's terrified of what everyone else from Parole will think, after she "Let" Ash die saving her. (She puts on her motorcycle helmet and makes it go opaque, it's a sensory deprivation assistive device.) Shiloh helps her by putting the jar with Zilch's precious pancreas nearby her, which she hugs like a stuffed animal and cries it out.
The next day, they're back on the road to Radiance to get a traveling shield. Annie explains that Celeste was the Parole Resistance's go-between for Radiance Tech, but she disappeared in the Parole Collapse like so many others. This will be Annie's first time negotiating with Lakshanya in Celeste's place. Seeing her anxiety, "Chance" reveals that he knows Lakshanya will help them... because he's actually her brother, INDRA CHANDRASEKHAR.
CHAPTER 4 - "Welcome Home"
They arrive at the Radiance Technologies center, Indra leading the way.
As the trio enter, they run into a very suspicious man - an entirely unremarkable, average-height, average-build white SkEye officer with very "Sharp" blue eyes, who seems oddly interested in them, though he says nothing. A predator, sizing them up, but moving off. For now.
Inside, they meet LAKSHANYA/"SHANNI" - Indra's twin sister. She's dressed very goth, is clearly very no-nonsense compared to his breeziness, and is very happy to see him after his long time as a runaway. She gives them a new portable shield generator (plus an encrypted flash drive that needs to get to Jay on the FireRunner), and tells them that she's scheduled a special "presentation" for today, and their parents, RISHIKA and BHANU CHANDRASEKHAR, are here to see it.
Rishika is the charismatic CEO of Radiance Technologies, and she is very interested in her daughter's project. Upon seeing her, Annie goes entirely pokerfaced. (Indra's only piece of advice in dealing with his parents is "don't talk about Parole.")
Shanni's project would turn the currently-existing Ring of Tartarus/Ghost-repelling Beacons into a web, with lightbeams intersecting and containing/shrinking the Tartarus Zone and everything inside, just like the barrier over Parole. She's assigned the beacon-updating project to one of her most trusted crews - the FIRERUNNER!
Everything is wonderful, Rishika and Bhanu are so proud of Shanni, the project is a total greenlight, Indra is home safe - until Annie steps up and asks "what's the plan for Parole?"
It's like a Silence/Awkwardness bomb has dropped. Nobody is supposed to know Parole still exists, and Rishika starts to give stock "Radiance is doing all we can for the entire country" answers, but Annie's having none of it. She came out here to get aid and relief, and this is THE powerful woman who can give it. Rishika's been sending aid, but Parole hasn't been receiving it, the place Collapsed, and everyone's still being slaughtered.
The exchange is getting more heated, until Indra drops another bombshell: "is this what Mihir would want?"
They don't know what Mihir would want, because he was killed in Parole ten years ago when the barrier first went up. Bhanu says if Mihir had listened and stayed at home and away from Parole and "that SYNDICATE," he'd still be alive. (Annie and Shiloh both recognize what that means.) Parole is a monster that ate their son, and their hearts along with it.
Annie argues that no, Parole is full of good people, and MAJOR TURRET is the monster. Bhanu and Rishika insist that he's a good man who's been nothing but an ally, and he truly understands them when no one else does, because he lost "a son, and a wife, an entire family" to Parole as well.
Annie calls this out as bullshit - Liam and Brianna Turret are both alive - and they are genuinely shocked to hear about Liam. Turret lied to them to gain sympathy (but neither are ready to hear it yet).
And here comes Bombshell #3 - Turret told them that Mihir was killed by "The CyborJ Syndicate." (CyborJ being Shiloh's uncle Jay, and Regan's bf!)
Rishika found working on Parole's overseeing and relief too painful, so she handed it over to Turret, a man she thought she could trust, and abdicated it completely to help her traumatized family heal. She and Bhanu are horrified that Indra wants to go back there after Mihir's death - but that's exactly why Indra has to. He has to stand where Mihir stood, see what he saw in Parole to make him want to give everything, if it was worth it - and find out WHY this happened, make it mean something.
The situation dissolves, and Indra runs away from his parents out out the door once again.
Outside, Shanni (hugging Indra, who really needs one) reveals that Turret has been more than approving and generous with her beacon-update plan - and that's one reason she's started to suspect this might not be the right thing after all. If he's too into it, it must be dangerous.
She tells him to find "the girl on the radio," and give her yet another top-secret envelope... which she says will vindicate Mihir's death and show Parole is worth saving. Indra joins Annie and Shiloh, and they get back on the road.
CHAPTER 5 - See You In My Dreams
That night (after Annie tells her friends a little about growing up autistic in Parole - and her adaptive tech like joint braces, word-making jacket for nonverbal times, and sensory-dulling helmet for meltdowns), they share a dream about the Emerald Bar.
In it, Evelyn, Kari (Radio Angel), and a mysterious girl all in black sing and dance on stage, but nobody can hear each other. Until Annie spots REGAN in the audience, and runs up to him, so glad to see him after his disappearance. Everyone's been worried ever since SHARPE had him re-captured and re-addicted to Chrysedrine (short story: "Happening Again/Withdrawal").
Regan says that Gabriel often talks with him in his dreams, in the Emerald Bar, obviously bringing the four of them together. He can't tell them exactly where he is, just that he's safe, and with "friends, and also HANS sometimes." He recognizes Shiloh, because he's in a relationship with Jay (though he doesn't say this yet), and ESPECIALLY recognizes INDRA and seems much more unsettled by this, though he won't say why at all here.
Regan tells them that Gabriel now survives as a ghost-like projection inside his head. He's trying to find a way to get Gabriel his own body, the kid deserves that and more. He says that Celeste can help too, if they can find her. (She's "doing her own thing behind the scenes.")
He asks Annie to tell Rose, if she sees her, that he's sorry (for, he thinks, letting her get shot in Book 1), and that he loves everyone. He's clearly having a hard time, and seems exhausted and sick, even in a dream. Then he catches sight of Ash's necklace around Annie's neck, and starts to put together that something awful has happened. Regan starts to panic, and then they all wake up.
CHAPTER 6 - "Don't Go Out At Night"
They wake to find that a ghost in all its mysterious weirdness has made it past the proximity alarm. It shapeshifts into GARRETT COLE, Shiloh's dad, and starts to speak: "Icarus. Turn out the lights."
He then casts a 'spell,' a stream of glittering aurora-borealis light in the sky, a path showing the way (to where, Shiloh believes, they'll find the real Garrett and Maureen). This is (part of) the titular Lifeline Signal.
Then, they're all interrupted by a ghostly howl - and a giant wolf bursting onto the scene. The Garrett-shaped ghost shapeshifts into a dragon (the same from the beginning) and the two creatures start to fight. But ghosts aren't supposed to be solid! Everyone's terrified, except Annie - she knows it's TOTO-DANDY from Book 1, and he's a good boy here to protect them!
But the dragon tackles Shiloh, saying "turn out the light" once more, and Shiloh, thinking it's about to attack, creates a huge blinding light, which does seem to hurt the dragon - which starts to breathe its poison smoke. It doesn't hurt Shiloh, however, because Indra puts himself between them, and the poison smoke tendrils coil around his arm, burning it.
Toto-Dandy successfully chases off (but doesn't kill) the dragon, and everyone sets about taking care of Indra's Tartarus-infected arm. There's not much they can do until they reach the FireRunner, so they put the pedal to the metal and run through the night.
CHAPTER 7 - "Move Along Home"
The next day, Indra is awake but his infection is spreading up his arm and getting worse. They arrive at an energy-domed waypoint (like Meridian), and see a bunch of Shanni's Radiance medical response team treating people as best they can - Parole never gets help like this, because nobody knows it's still there.
Here we meet two of Annie's friends/found-family - Aliyah, Captain of the FireRunner (and a very charismatic Muslima with hidden eagle-like wings and all-black eyes), and Stefanos (gigantic Greek-descent bear of a man, also a pirate-looking cyborg with gold cyber-eyes/hand/leg), engineer and second in command.
(In an off-screen scene of horror, they heard the same reporting-in broadcast from before, that Sharpe shot one of the motorcycle riders, but not WHICH one, Annie or Ash, until seeing her right now. This situation has fucked everyone up very badly, but everyone does their best to keep it together for Annie.)
The FireRunner is here for shield generator repair - they're responsible for lighting up all of the Beacons that Shanni has had built around Tartarus, in the hopes of containing it. Shiloh's uncle JAY is indeed on board, and he can see the glittering trail in the sky, convinced it will lead to Maureen and Garrett too.
We first see Jay very confidently fixing Stefanos' artificial hand, which is giving him trouble because of Tartarus poison corrosion. Jay is overjoyed and a bit nervous to see Shiloh and start connecting with the nibling he hasn't seen in over 10 years. Shiloh gives him both Maureen's data disk and Shanni's top secret info drive.
Jay seems oddly nervous about the prospect of meeting Indra...
CHAPTER 8 - "Recovery"
Indra is delirious with fever, but slowly gets better thanks to Rowan, the ship's doctor/Tartarus-poisoning expert (they/them, a very soft faun-like mutant with big spiraling horns and all-black eyes, which is a Tartarus poisoning symptom that never goes away. Rowan is also Ash's sibling.)
Their current tartarus poisoning treatments are inhalers for systemic/lungs, and spray-bottles for topical burns. They're working on a more powerful injection, but it's untested.
Once he's asleep, Rowan has a tearful reunion with Annie, who's wracked with guilt over Ash dying for her. She also presents them with Zilch's pancreas that she managed to protect over the entire harrowing journey.
Once Indra's awake again, Annie takes him and Shiloh on a tour of the FireRunner. First stop is an introduction to an old friend - Radio Angel, in person for the first time! (She's an adorable chubby pink-haired girl with a hover-chair, and her powers also include simultaneously broadcasting her words in several different languages, and holding several conversations at the same time - she only needs to think words for them to be audible.)
Shiloh's been a huge fan for years - they could hear her broadcasts in Meridian. Indra is reluctant to step inside, and when Kari catches a glimpse of him, she's shocked, by how much he looks like his twin Shanni, and brother Mihir.
Indra gives her the envelope Shanni sent with him, and inside is one of Maureen's mini-teleporters. Kari pushes the button, but nothing seems to happen.
Outside, Jay literally runs right into Indra, and also seems shocked - but much, much worse than anyone else has been yet. He looks horrified, can't speak, and then actually runs away... like he's seen a ghost.
CHAPTER 9 - "Rocks and Hard Places"
The next stop on Annie's tour is the ship's huge central chamber, that houses an actual forest-garden with an enormous tree... the tree from Shiloh, Annie, Indra, and Gabriel's shared dreams. (All this is thanks to Rose from Chameleon Moon!)
Later, Shiloh and Aliyah talk over (very strong, hot) coffee. She says not to worry about getting any medications xie needs on the way, as a huge part of what they transport are meds/hormones to people trapped in Parole.
She asks about the ghosts Shiloh and friends have encountered, initially thinking they're just poisonous, parroting monsters, but is very interested when Shiloh says the one that looked like a dragon/Garrett was definitely trying to talk to them. And wants them to "turn out the lights," and "Icarus. Exchange." (She says the word "Icarus" symbolizes one of Parole's greatest victories, and to ask Jay about it.)
And she is very suspicious of how helpful Major Turret has been in their mission to light up the beacon ring. If he thinks it's the right thing, then...
CHAPTER 10 - "The Smoking Gun"
Deep in his computer lair, Jay is having trouble decrypting Maureen's disk; the ship and its computers are Radiance tech, and she's specifically encoded it to lock down if it "falls into enemy hands."
He misses his home/old setup, and his (synthetic, Danae-made) cat, Seven, who greatly assists in decrypting files. And being his best friend/therapy animal who can purr him right out of panic attacks. (This was the cat with the mechanical eyes that kept following Regan in CHAMELEON MOON. She's been watching and recording him!)
Jay has a whole wall of photos, of the FireRunner crew with old friends from CHAMELEON MOON: Zilch, Finn, Rose, Danae (who's actually Stefanos' younger sister!), Kari/Radio Angel, Evelyn, Celeste, and Ash, who was actually Annie's godfather. Also there, clearly very important to Jay, is Indra's older brother Mihir.
Shiloh asks about "PROJECT ICARUS," and Jay tells xir that it's a program he and the hacker/hero Celeste wrote ten years ago. It DROPPED THE SHIELDS AROUND PRAOLE FOR ONE MINUTE, and this is how Shiloh and Maureen escaped - and so many others didn't. (This is also the last time Shiloh ever saw Gabriel alive.)
That was the First use of the program. The SECOND was in the recent Parole collapse; they managed to do it again for one more minute, and that's how Jay and everyone on the FireRunner got out. Immediately afterwards, Celeste disappeared.
Shiloh tells Jay about the shared dreams xie's been having with Annie, Indra, and Gabriel - and notices a photo of Regan, from the last dream in the Emerald Bar. Jay is shocked and excited, desperate to hear about how and where Regan is, but Shiloh doesn't know any more. Xie remembers Regan saying he was with someone, but can't remember who. (HANS!) And that Regan got very scared seeing Ash's shark tooth necklace around Annie's neck (he knows that SHARPE is still out there/after them!)
Jay and Shiloh bond a little over Star Trek (and how Kirk beat the Kobayashi Maru by 'cheating' - picking the third option when the rules say you're doomed. An important story theme.)
Once Shiloh leaves, Jay tries the other disk sent by Lakshanya. This one isn't encrypted. It plays a voice message,and it freaks Jay out enough that he listens to it three times, then runs from the room.
---
Jay finds Rowan in the garden, watching over Annie as she sleeps. He says he wanted to ask Annie exactly where Ash died, where outside Meridian - because he's trying to track his murderer, Lieutenant Sharpe's movements... and also Regan's. He tells Rowan that the disk Celeste sent was a message FROM REGAN. Four words. "BLOOD IN THE WATER," meaning Sharpe is after him too.
He and Rowan are together and also with Regan in a triad - but Jay is so conflicted about everything right now. From his perspective (in the short story RUNTIME), Regan just randomly noped out and said he had to go kill Garrett Cole, then Garrett turned up "Dead," but then Alive again, but Regan never came back, and Jay didn't know what to think about what the HELL Regan was doing and still doesn't.
Jay remembers that just two weeks before Parole collapsed and Regan disappeared, Sharpe had kidnapped and tortured Regan for two whole days (Short Story "Happening Again/Withdrawal"), re-addicted him to Chrysedrine, and Regan had to go through a second round of life-threatening withdrawal. Jay thinks Regan might have been traumatized enough, and possibly brainwashed to kill Garrett and work for SkEye again. It's the only way he's making sense of Regan's actions.
Rowan Disagrees strongly. They have complete faith in Regan, but they're terrified Sharpe will get him first. Rowan and Jay are at a painful impasse.
CHAPTER 11 - "Find the Queen"
With the FireRunner still grounded for lack of a shield, Shiloh and Indra hang out on the street outside. Indra starts shuffling cards and doing tricks, and Shiloh gets so into it that xie starts giving off little energy sparkles and flashes of light... which works really well with card-magic. Within minutes, they're putting on a little show with a gathering crowd.
Stefanos comes to talk to them, and we get a bit more backstory: Part of Project Icarus was protecting Parole when Major Turret tried to destroy it. He's the only one behind that, not Indra's mom, like he always thought on some level. "Rishika was trying to negotiate an impossible situation with minimal bloodshed. The only wrong thing your mother did was leave (out of grief, when Mihir died). Without her, we didn't have a chance." And Turret was free to move in, impose martial law on Parole, and make it his own kingdom.
Shiloh picks up on something odd - Stefanos says "those boys were heroes," when talking about Jay... and ambiguously either Mihir or Celeste. (It's Celeste.)
---
Meanwhile, Annie and Rowan have a much needed heart to heart about Ash's death, and keeping their weird found family together.
We also find out that the mission right before Ash was killed was to retrieve more of Zilch's organs, in jars, scattered around Parole and Tartarus. This is why Annie had their pancreas; Ash thought Sharpe had Zilch's heart (they don't know Zilch gave it to Finn in CHAMELEON MOON!)
After a cathartic karaoke break, Shiloh, Indra, and Annie return to the ship, where they immediately see Jay notice Indra and escape in the opposite direction. Inside, Aliyah says that they're shipping out right now, even without a shield; they need to keep lighting up the beacons to contain Tartarus.
And finally Shiloh gets an answer to so much of the weirdness xie's been sensing - Stefanos says "that's an alias, more like a title. The first 'Celeste' was Mihir."
CHAPTER 12 - "Third Options"
Shiloh confronts Jay about this, and he says that Major Turret killed Mihir personally, to seize power in Parole.
"He was a stepping stone. Turret killed him and used him to grab power from Rishika, who up until then was keeping him in pretty good check. Turret tries to wipe Parole off the map, and when that doesn't work, he goes to his Plan B. Tartarus. There is a smoking gun out there, and I'm gonna find it."
Jay flopped backwards again with a frustrated noise. “What happened to Parole after the Tartarus blast?”
“It disappeared,” Shiloh said after a second of puzzled thought. “To most people, anyway. Nobody can get near it because of SkEye and the story is that Parole was one of the first places Tartarus destroyed—”
“Exactly,” Jay cut in. “It wasn’t destroyed, but it was definitely supposed to be. First, Turret tries to nuke us. Someone—Mihir—tries to disarm it. It should have worked. But something went sideways, because the thing went off somewhere else.”
“The Tartarus Blast,” Shiloh said slowly. “So instead of one city, the whole country got burned?”
“Right, which distracts everyone from Parole. Everyone forgets we exist.”
Finally, Turret BLAMES PAROLE for Mihir's death so Rishika will feel compelled to leave, says it's a city of monsters, and he's just the guy to contain it. He blames "The CyborJ Syndicate" specifically.
Afterwards, "Celeste 2.0" steps up to fill the void left by Mihir's death, and take the suspicion off Jay. "Celeste can't be dead, they're right here!" (and her identity remains a secret for now.)
Jay is driven not just by a desire to clear his own name, but to show the truth at last, that Turret is a murderer as well as a tyrant, but he has no proof. (And if he points at Turret now, Turret will just blame the Tartarus Blast on Parole. Jay can't move without proof.)
...And this is why he's been avoiding Indra.
---
That night, the FireRunner ships out and starts hover-sailing across the desert on the outskirts of Tartarus, headed in the same direction as the glittering trail in the sky.
We see the crew launch a successful light-up mission of the first (lighthouse-like) beacon, all working together to distract ghosts and climb/fly up the outside. When done, the light turns electric purple, and shoots out to join the last lit beacon in the perimeter.
Unfortunately, at that moment, Shiloh sees the stream of light in the sky change direction. Maureen and Garrett aren't here.
---
Shiloh hangs out with Kari/Radio Angel, who cheers xir up a bit, talking about the New Celeste, a girl Kari obviously loves and misses painfully. With Shiloh boosting their power/signal, she sends out an encouraging broadcast to Parole, hoping someone (Celeste) can hear her.
CHAPTER 13 - "Dark Clouds On The Horizon"
Jay, Rowan, and Stefanos discuss their options - continuing to light up the beacons, or heading home to Parole to help there. The situation is more desperate because Stefanos' cyborg parts are starting to lock up from exposure to Tartarus poison; he has around 2 weeks left of functionality before he needs Danae to repair him. In Parole.
Jay wants to go straight to Parole (to deliver Maureen's disk, and also get help for Stefanos). Stefanons wants to continue lighting the beacons and containing Tartarus. Rowan wants to stay in Tartarus and keep looking for Regan; they can't lose him too so soon after Ash... and they want to take out Sharpe. He still has at least one of Zilch's organs, and Regan's "blood in the water" message was the last straw. Things begin to turn heated, and Rowan leaves.
Everyone loves each other but they're exhausted and know they're near a breaking point.
---
Later, Aliyah and Rowan talk about Sharpe and his suspicious motives. His goals seem noble on the surface, containing Tartarus' toxic wasteland, but she knows he's not a noble person, so what is he actually up to/having them do?
As night falls, Aliyah spots a toxic storm growing on the horizon, directly between them and the next beacon.
CHAPTER 14 - "Ghosts in the Machine"
At 3 AM, still struggling to break through the disk's encryption, Jay laments his situation: he misses his home, regular setup, and his CAT... Who miraculously appears from nowhere. (He suspects Celeste zapped her in using one of the small personal teleporters, but can't find any sign.)
Her name is Seven, and along with being Jay's therapy animal (with several therapeutic purr-frequencies), is a very powerful computer that has all sorts of ways of boosting his technological efforts. Jay sets her loose on the encryption, and she has it open in seconds.
It flashes "ICARUS" three times, then reveals its secrets: Blueprints for some sort of huge, extremely complicated device. Jay can't make sense of it, but knows it's extremely important, sent from Maureen to likely Danae.
Then, Jay receives a new message - from Regan. He says that he's okay, but he can't resurface just yet, not until he's found what he and Jay were looking for. (Proof about Mihirs murder.) He sends all his love.
---
Shiloh, Annie, and Indra share a dream: a repeating one they all have about Parole's history, the barrier, disasters, and the day the 4 of them (including Gabriel) were separated. Little Shiloh ran back and banged xir hands on the barrier (which should have killed them) to try to get to Annie and Indra on the other side. Gabriel, however, is the one who linked their brains together.
Gabriel is fading from their dream, and it's getting harder for him to maintain their link. (This is because he's now attached to Regan as in the ending of CM, and they're not in Parole anymore.) He thinks he's just a ghost now, but everyone promises not to forget or let him go.
---
Indra wakes from the dream and goes for a walk, stumbling across Jay and Stefanos talking about Seven, the device plans, and Regan, and listens in. He overhears Jay saying that he and Regan are looking for proof about Mihir's death, and eventually comes out to talk to him for the first real time. They connect, and trust each other.
CHAPTER 15 - "The Eye of the Storm"
Rowan and Aliyah - queerplatonic partners - have a quiet moment and talk about Regan's strange motives, and how their whole family group is drifting apart and trying to stay together.
They clash briefly, Rowan wanting to stay out in Tartarus looking for Regan and Zilch's remaining organs (and kill Sharpe), with Aliyah wanting to finish their assignment and get back to Parole to help. Aliyah won't allow Rowan to stay and keep searching, because their skills as a medic and crew member are too valuable, and they have to think about the thousands of people they can save, and not the two they likely can't.
In the middle of their argument, they're interrupted by a huge storm outside.
---
Aliyah directs the crew through battening down every hatch to weather the storm - without a working shield, they have to do everything by hand and above deck, right in the toxic wind/dust/ghosts attracted to the ship. Aliyah, still concerned about Rowan, gives them the safest job (maintaining radio contact with everyone).
Everybody works very well together, Shiloh and Indra fitting in easily with the adult crew's instruction, and it's exciting and scary at once. Indra especially loves it, feeling like for once he's good for something, belonging.
The first sign something is very wrong: a ghost says "Icarus, turn out the light" to Shiloh - in Maureen's voice.
The second: A ghost appears on the ship itself... in the form of Ash, full-body-apparition style.
Rowan reaches out to touch it, and the contact hurts their hand, just like Indra's. They demand to know what it wants, but just then, Toto-Dandy attacks it, knocking Rowan off-balance. They nearly fall overboard, but the Ash-ghost catches them - by the neck. It is very solid, and strangling Rowan, but doesn't seem to realize it's hurting them.
Aliyah screams to let Rowan go, and the ghost does, dropping them overboard, and disappearing. Aliyah swoops down and catches Rowan, but getting both of them safely back on board takes everyone working together. In the process, another solid ghost knocks Aliyah's oxygen mask off, and she gets a breath of poison air.
The ghosts keep getting more aggressive (and definitely solid when they shouldn't be!), danger increasing until Toto-Dandy howls to draw all the ghosts' attention, and then leaps overboard and disappears, the entire swarm chasing after him.
Everybody gets safely inside, but Aliyah is unconscious, and Rowan has a terrible hand-shaped burn around their neck, a new horror.
CHAPTER 16 - "The Calm After"
With Rowan down, Annie is the backup medic, and takes care of them and Aliyah the best she can. The crew barely has time to catch their breath, when alarms go off - there's a SkEye ship hot on their tail, about to board them.
Its a raid, and both Brianna (Shilohs friend from the beginning) and Rishika (Indra's mom) are on the SkEye ship along with Turret. Annie and Shiloh hide in a secret compartment, but Indra tears off to confront his mom.
On the bridge, Stefanos (revealed as an ex-SkEye agent, just like Regan and Zilch) and Jay stonewall Rishika. They are old friends with bad history, with feelings of betrayal all around (Jay is especially extremely messed up about her abandonment of Parole and everyone in it). Jay tells her Turret killed her son, and while she'll believe almost any bad thing bout him, she doesn't believe this. However, she is coming out to see Parole and the state of it herself, for the first time in ten years.
In the midst of the conflict, Indra emerges to talk to Rishika. They both understand the other's reasons for acting, and Rishika says that while she doesn't think Turret is a murderer, she'll start neutralizing and cleaning up his mess.
CHAPTER 17 - "Teeth"
Against her father's wishes, Brianna finds the ship's PA system and uses it to tell Shiloh to RUN. She and Turret struggle, and Rishika breaks it up, and tells him she's taking control back of Parole. He's obviously mishandled it.
Shiloh runs to find Brianna. Xie and Annie tell her that Parole still exists, and Liam (her brother) at least is still alive. Just as they're asking Brianna to come with them, Lieutenant Sharpe appears; a perfectly average-looking white man with the most sharklike smile ever. He's eager to catch all 3 - but then Rishika comes on the PA, saying she's taking over and all soldiers are to return to their vessel immediately. Sharpe withdraws, but sees Ash's shark tooth (actually one of his!) around Annie's neck. He knows she's the one who got away.
Now that Rishika is in power now, not her father, Brianna runs off to join her, saying she "needs to see what her father tried to hide."
---
On the SkEye ship, Brianna's confidence is shaken when Turret says that even though Rishika gives the orders now, his men will rebel when he gives the word.
CHAPTER 18 - "Turn Out The Lights"
Aliyah wakes up, slowly recovering, but Rowan remains unconscious. Shiloh presents her with an idea: using xir energetic powers, xie might be able to light up all the beacons at once, not just one at a time, so they can go home to Parole earlier.
They reach the next beacon and start the plan, with Shiloh up in the ship's crow's nest, Indra and Annie there to support. The beacon goes out, everything's pitch dark, and then Shiloh summons every bit of emotion, pain and joy and fear and everything xie's felt and built up over the course of the story. Xie, Annie, and Indra are together the way they're meant to be, from their dreams, and Shiloh turns it into light.
Xie succeeds in lighting up the beacon, and it starts to form a web with the others, containing Tartarus, forming a barrier like the one over Parole. Everything's going well - until Turret's voice comes over the speakers, ordering xir to "continue lighting the beacons. Thousands of lives depend on your success."
That makes Shiloh stop and remember - if Turret is evil as they know, and this is exactly what he wants... is it really right?
Turret's ship is back, and Sharpe, the sniper, has the trio in his scope.
Shiloh tries to STOP powering the beacons, but can't, trapped now by the energy. And then xie hears another familiar voice - "Turn out the lights. Icarus. Trust me. Trust you. Let go."
The ghost dragon is back, speaking in Gabriel's voice. It guides Shiloh through letting go and OVERPOWERING the beacons with xir intense but free feelings - and it shuts off every single light, on both ships, all beacons, AND the glowing stream in the sky Shiloh's been following all this time. Total blackout. Then Shiloh sees a figure riding the dragon's back: Maureen!
But it's not her. It's a ghost taking her form, now talking directly to Shiloh. It says: "Exchange!" and now that meaning becomes clear.
In exchange for turning off the beacons (which have been hurting the ghosts all this time)... they all attack Turret's ship.
CHAPTER 19 - "Miracles and Repairs"
In the infirmary, Stefanos and Jay wait for Rowan to wake up. Jay remembers the audio message from Regan he hasn't listened to yet, and has Seven play it. It's Regan, singing "Dream Sweet," the Parole lullaby from Book 1. And the sound of it makes Rowan finally wake up.
Rowan still can't talk, and might never be able to, thanks to the damage the Ash-ghost did to their throat, but they're alive.
Jay agrees with them now, after hearing Regan's message - they all have to find Regan and Zilch, before they can go home for real.
CHAPTER 20 - "Enough"
Shiloh feels lost and bereft - xie did everything right, followed the glowing trail, shut off the beacons... but Maureen and Garrett aren't here. Xie feels abandoned - until the radio comes on, and Garrett's (real!!) voice comes through. Maureen is there too, safe and sound, and they're both so proud of their kid.
It turns out that the message, "turn out the lights, icarus, exchange" was from them. Maureen has found a way to communicate with the ghosts at least very simply. This whole thing was to get Shiloh to stop the light from hurting them, and in exchange the ghosts are now their tentative allies against Turret, Sharpe, and Radiance.
Shiloh is worried about Tartarus spreading now that there's nothing to contain it, but Garrett says not to be. He won't say how, but there is a way to stop the poison without hurting or trapping the ghosts.
Shiloh is naturally upset at still being kept in the dark, and Maureen does say one important thing: TURRET WANTS TARTARUS CONTAINED NOT BECAUSE IT'S POISONOUS, BUT BECAUSE HE'S HIDING SOMETHING IN THERE AND DOESN'T WANT IT FOUND.
And another reveal - HANS HAS BEEN CONTROLLING TOTO-DANDY for the entire book, ever since he left in the robot dog's body at the end of Book 1! Garrett is quite pissed about this. (Every time Hans attacked the ghosts or lured them away, he was trying to distract and break down communications. He doesn't want there to be a ghost alliance? For Reasons Unknown...)
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Shiloh, Indra, and Annie share one more dream, this time the recurring nightmare about the day they were separated escaping Parole. Indra's annoyed that they still can't escape Parole, even 10 years later in dreams - but Shiloh says xie doesn't want to let this go. It made them all the people they are, and xie loves them.
EPILOGUE - "Waking Up"
Kari/Radio Angel speaks over the airwaves, directly to Celeste, who she knows is listening. Begs her to come back.
Celeste replies! Says she's so sorry for having to disappear and go radio silent, but she, Maureen, Garrett, Regan, AND Gabriel have all been working together and couldn't risk more communication (never know who's listening).
She says Evelyn has been appraised of everything that's happened with the ghosts and barriers, so Parole knows to be ready for the fallout. (And hints that it won't burn much longer.)
Kari asks Celeste to come home... and she does. Appearing right outside her door, ready to swoop her up, is Lakshanya Chandrasekhar!
THE END..... FOR NOW.
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